Red Tail Rising

His name comes from the color of his hair. He is just a little older than I am, and comes from an entirely different world. On his first visit to the shop, he asked me if I would consider going dancing with him. I told him perhaps when the time was right, I would. At about this time, I realized that my marriage was falling apart and that had to be my first priority.

Our paths crossed several times during the next few years. He always asked if I would go dancing with him, and I always gave him the same reply. The time was not right yet. I always had an uncomfortable feeling when I was around him, yet I could not tell you what caused that feeling.

He claims to be of Cherokee blood, maybe an eighth but more probably a sixteenth. At our meetings, he would slowly open up a little more. He is a man of many lives, living them all at the same time. He says he is honest and sincere, yet he has a much darker side. He is more of a vulture than a hawk. Through the realm of the Internet, he preys on people -- male and female alike -- when they are at their most vulnerable. He will entice a female, telling her of the wonderful life they will have together. He will entice the males, pretending that he is female. He 'moves' from state to state like I move from one room to another, and his age changes with his mood.

He is not a person that I want in my life, yet there he is. He seems to be taunting me, and haunting me. I feel that he is almost daring me to do something about him, but what that is totally evades me. I sometimes think that he is there to teach me something. Perhaps that I should not be as trusting as I am. I have always taken people at face value, which sometimes creates disappointment and problems. But these are things that I can deal with. Perhaps he was sent to show me my faults, of which there are many. Or perhaps he is really seeking my help, but does not know how to ask for it. I know that somewhere very deep inside him is a good man. Maybe he is afraid to let the world know that. Whatever the case, I have done what I can to teach him, and he continues to resist. That was his choice. Someday, maybe, he will no longer be a part of my life. Maybe I will learn to erase his memory. But until that time, he will continue to be a constant reminder of things that could have been, both in his life and in mine. And I will never dance with him.